Fillet of red mullet with chick peas and coriander

Serves 4

Red mullet is one of those delicate, pretty little fish that has a fairly robust flavour and will cope with ingredients like chilli, ginger and coriander. Chick peas can be a pain to cook from dried, and there are some rogue ones on the market that seem to take hours to cook because they are so dry. The secret, providing you have good quality chick peas (the Spanish brand Formesina from Brindisa is very good), is to soak them in plenty of cold water for 24 hours at least and to add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to soften them during cooking. If you're cooking large quantities, a pressure cooking is a real boon.

Red mullet is one of those delicate, pretty little fish that has a fairly robust flavour and will cope with ingredients like chilli, ginger and coriander. Chick peas can be a pain to cook from dried, and there are some rogue ones on the market that seem to take hours to cook because they are so dry. The secret, providing you have good quality chick peas (the Spanish brand Formesina from Brindisa is very good), is to soak them in plenty of cold water for 24 hours at least and to add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to soften them during cooking. If you're cooking large quantities, a pressure cooking is a real boon.

4 red mullet fillets, weighing 130-140g, boned and scaled
1tbsp plain flour
150g chick peas, soaked for 24 hours
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
A small piece of root ginger, scraped and finely chopped or grated
1 tsp ground cumin
3tbsp olive oil, plus some extra for frying the red mullet
1tsp tomato purée
250ml vegetable stock
2tbsp chopped coriander leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain and wash the soaked chick peas, put them in the pressure cooker and cover well with water. Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and a couple of teaspoons of salt. Secure the lid and cook for 45 minutes. If you aren't using a pressure cooker they will take at least 2 1/2 hours simmering away in a normal pan.

Meanwhile gently cook the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger with the cumin in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add the tomato purée, cooked chick peas and vegetable stock, bring to the boil, season and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, add the coriander and simmer for another 2-3 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Season the red mullet fillets and lightly flour them, shaking off the excess flour. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan and fry the fillets, skin-side down for 2 minutes on each side.

The chick peas can be served hot, or room temperature. Spoon them on to plates and serve the red mullet on top.